


The Dark

by PumpkinPatch



Category: Happy Tree Friends
Genre: Abuse, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Death, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Torture, Multiple Deaths, Rape, Rape Aftermath, Rape Recovery, Rape/Non-con Elements, Relapse, Self-Hatred, rape relapse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-26
Updated: 2017-04-26
Packaged: 2018-10-24 09:43:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10739136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PumpkinPatch/pseuds/PumpkinPatch
Summary: Old story that will never be finished but I'm posting what I wrote years ago here for kicks, if someone would like to finish this I could give them the basic layout and plan and maybe collab or something, idc.Flippy gets hurt in a terrible way by an unknown attacker. This is how he falls, struggles back upward, keeps getting knocked down, but carries on like a soldier.Story contains an OC or two because the canon cast is barely twenty characters and the background characters are so undeveloped that they were of no use to me writing this fanfic so I was basically forced to add in an OC or two or go super OOC with the cast and I tried to keep everyone in character.





	1. Confusion and Shock

Flippy whistled aloud as he drove, he was heading home for the night. "Hmm, I think I'll take a shortcut and get home in time to watch one of my T.V shows." He thought, smiling at himself, best idea he'd had all day.

He hummed along in his head, the car's headlights cut the darkness and he took peace in the light. A blur appeared from the bushes, something ran in front of him, it looked like a - deer!

He hit the brakes, barely missing the animal who stared at him in terror before bounding off.

"Phew, that was really close." Flippy wiped his face and tried to calm his jittery nerves.

Thump!

Something landed on the hood, before he knew it, the windshield erupted in a shower of glass . . . And all went black.

 

Something cold was pressed against his face, that much he knew. He shifted slightly in his semi-conscious state.

"Look, he's moving, I think he might be coming to." A voice said, the cold thing was gently lifted from his face.

Groaning, he fought to become conscious even more, the weight of his weariness was so heavy he felt like giving in. . .

"Ungh . . . " Flippy awoke with a jerk, he felt as though he had been shoved through a meat grinder, of course, considering where he lived, that was a possibility. That dream . . . what . . . happened? Was it real? I don't remember anything else.

He opened his eyes, or at least tried to, one of his eyes wouldn't open all the way and hurt like hell, the other also felt tender, but worked just fine. He was willing to bet that he had acquired a brutal shiner somehow.

He gazed about, quickly taking in his surroundings. He saw that he was in the hospital, and the others were around him, Toothy held a bag of ice, which explained the cold substance he'd felt upon his face moments earlier. He also noticed his paws were tied down to the bed with the kind of straps you'd see used in an asylum, a sheet covered him from the waist down, his chest and left leg was bandaged and his legs were propped up at a higher angle, the latter made him even more confused than all the mind-boggling ones before, why would they prop his legs up like that?

They must have noticed his confusion, because Sniffles gave the other tree friends a look that made them nod and leave, the only ones that stayed were Giggles and Flaky who were wearing nurse uniforms. The anteater undid the straps, allowing the bear to move more. Flippy noticed the anteater was dressed in a doctor's garb. Lumpy must've been unavailable, He mused, the moose always jumped at the chance to "help" a happy tree friend, even though said help was so unorthodox that it almost always killed them twice as painfully as normal.

Sitting upright hurt a great deal, but he managed it, even if he did have to bite his cheek not to whimper. Sure he'd been trained to withstand pain in the army, but he felt as if his ass had been split in two.

"I'm sorry about these, you see, you were so violent earlier that we had to restrain you." He said as he examined the bear closely, for some reason Flippy felt defensive, but the previous comment made him gasp softly.

"Violent?" Flippy echoed, fearfully. Evil hadn't taken over had he? It had been months sense he'd last flipped. He couldn't let himself transgress again! Fearfully, he gazed at the male, hoping for an answer.

"You were so traumatized that you didn't even recognize us." Giggles told him,

Flaky tried not to grimace in sympathy when she gazed at the sheet, what was wrong? Flippy tried to move his legs, but suddenly felt a horrendous pain that made him stop dead in his tracks.

"Easy there, you were really dinged up when we found you . . . "

"I was?" He murmured, racking his brain in hopes of remembering. "Did I die?"

"No, although given the circumstances, you might wish otherwise." Sniffles said, Flippy gave him a bewildered look.

Why would I wish that? Sure death is natural here and we revive the next day, but we never really wish for it.

"Do you know how long you've been asleep?" Flaky muttered, stammering a bit.

He shook his head. The closest clock in the room said one in the afternoon, when had he fallen asleep last? Flippy stopped trying to remember, shrugged, and harbored a guess, "Five hours?"

"No, try four days." Giggles said, straightening her bow before picking up a cup with a straw and offering him a drink.

He sipped it hungrily, before choking as he finally realized exactly what she'd said, Flaky patted him upon the back as he coughed and wheezed, making his throat raw and his chest ache.

"What the hell are you talking about?" He exclaimed, his throat raspier than before.

Flaky and Giggles exchanged nervous glances, "Is this normal?" the chipmunk asked.

"I don't know, whenever I get really upset I block things out." Flaky replied.

He gazed uncertaintly, still feeling as though he was being kept in the dark. What weren't they telling him?

"Did something bad happen to me?" He asked, eyes wide.

Sniffles touched Flippy's arm, the bear jerked away for some reason, Why did I just jerk away? I'm not afraid of Sniffles, but when he touched me, I just don't understand . . .

Sniffles nodded as if he was taking notes for later and touched the bear's arm once more, instantly Flippy seized it, gripping it so roughly that the bone was ready to shatter. His eyes went from angry to confused and he looked at his paws in surprise.

And yet when Flaky had touched him he hadn't shied away . . . why was he so cautious about Sniffles? He groaned, "Why did I just do that?"

"That's part of being traumatized, you see Flippy, you were raped."

 

Chapter 2: Denial And Grief

 

The bear's eyes opened wide, wider than most thought possible. "What kind of sick trick is this?" He screamed, baring his teeth and clenching his fists. He went to move his legs, but once again that unbearable(ooh, bad pun) pain shot up his spine. He shook his head, this wasn't happening, this was NOT happening!

Why him? Why him, he was a guy for crying out loud, what kind of sick freak raped males? He knew about homosexuals, had gotten along just fine with them, he gave them their space, they gave him his, but he didn't think any guy - straight, gay, bisexual, or just flat out confused went around raping other guys! It was beyond degrading, it was . . . sickening!

He trembled, trying to control the raging emotions, he'd been raped, by who? How? When? Why? The last one that he wanted answered was vital.

His distress made him shiver and writhe, pain shot up his spine and he felt even sicker, knowing what was coming, he leaned over the rail and gestured wildly towards a trashcan, Flaky immediately caught on and fetched it, holding it beneath the bear's face. Flippy began puking and retching, whatever he had last eaten - more than likely it had been food through a food tube- came up. He began dry heaving, the jerking of his chest sending even more pain up his spine.

Finally, after a few more minutes of dry heaving and gasping, he managed to calm his breathing. "I don't understand . . . " He wailed, taking a tissue from Flaky and cleaning his face up, the used tissue went into the puddle of vomit that covered the entire bottom of the trashcan. Flaky sat the can aside, looking emphatically at him.

Sniffles lifted his notepad, and flipped back, gazing at the writing. "I'll answer everything I can and try to explain what little information we've acquired."

"H-h-h-ow the hell did this happen?" He shouted, his words were laced with a hysterical tone that didn't match how close to going ballistic he was.

"Now, Flippy, don't panic, if you panic you'll start hurting yourself even more." Giggles chided, unafraid of said bear's outburst.

"Panic!" Flippy shrieked, "I'm beyond panicking, I'm freaking losing my mind!"

Sniffles held up his hands. "Deep breaths, calm yourself, the damage to your . . . " He was oddly hesitant to say the word, even though he knew many scientific terms for it, he didn't feel right saying anus, rear end, or even sphincter. "Err, you know, was really severe, you'll have to spend a long time healing before you can walk without feeling excruciating pain."

The bear's eyes twitched, similar to how they used to, but they didn't change colours, the twitch wasn't the beginnings of a flip-out, it was a nervous reaction. ". . . You mean . . . the pain there is because of - shit!" He snarled, his paws clutching at the side-rails as he growled and felt tears flow down his cheeks. A dream, please let this all be a dream. I can handle dying accidentally, I can handle being killed, but I can't handle this.

"How much pain are you in?" Sniffles inquired.

Flippy gave him a look that told him if his ass wasn't inflamed to the point that he was incapable of getting up, he would have beat the shit out of him. "What do you think?"

"I take it I'd better up the morphine dosage."

Flippy nodded weakly, "That would ease the physical pain." But the mental pain was throbbing inside his head rapidly.

Sniffles hooked a second bag of morphine to the IV pole and Giggles found a vein to stick the IV needle into, Flippy didn't even blink when the needle pierced his skin, compared to everything else, that was a tickle.

"When, where, why, how, who?" He babbled, his words weak and fluttery as he tried to grasp onto even a tiny shred of his sanity.

"Four days ago, I found you along side the road in a puddle of blood and . . . semen unconscious. Your car's windshield was shattered and it appeared as though there had been quite a scuffle. I don't know why, I really don't, no one had a motive to do this as far as I know, us happy tree friends rarely hold any grudges. Who is along the same lines of why, I don't know, it doesn't appear very likely it was one of us, unless one of the newer arrivals did it, do you remember anything?"

He shook his head, but then realized that he did know a little. "I remember just a smidgen, I was driving home and too the shortcut, a deer bolted in front of the car, and then I hit the breaks. . . I heard a thump and when I looked up, something was on top of the hood, then the windshield exploded, and that's all I remember."

"That's a start." Flaky said, her eyes wide, "When you suffer a traumatic event, it takes varying amounts of time to remember these things, but a little bit already means you'll probably remember more later, although . . . maybe not the worst parts."

Sniffles seemed to hang on Flaky's words. Flippy didn't understand why, upon his blank stare, Sniffles explained, "She's an expert on trauma, I didn't have enough time to dig out any books, so I decided to request her help."

He nodded wearily, but still felt uncomfortable about these two females knowing his fate let alone the males. "Do the . . . uh, other tree friends know?"

Giggles gave him a reassuring grin, "I told them off when they started inquiring, they think you broke your tailbone in a car crash and hit your face on the windshield so hard it shattered and cut you."

"Thank you." He murmured, his eyes drooping halfway shut, he felt so much pain in his body that it was exhausting. "Uh, where's my beret?" He asked suddenly, realizing it wasn't on his head.

Flaky left and came back with a bag, she pulled out the object he had requested. "I stopped by your house and got your clothes, but you can't have your jacket yet."

Giggles placed something in his paw, he saw it was his same old dog tags, although the ball chain was new. "Sniffles found this in the car, it must have been broken in the scuffle." She told him.

He took it and held it close, Flaky placed the beret upon his head and smiled, "There, don't worry, we won't judge you, we will always be your friends, and this . . . er, incident, hasn't changed my opinion of you."

He nodded, a small forced smile crossing his mouth before he shut his eyes and dozed off, he briefly wondered if he would sleep or just have nightmares.


	2. Reopening Fresh Wounds

As Flippy slept in the bed, his heart monitor beeping softly and morphine easing his pain through an IV line; he was completely unaware of what was happening elsewhere in the hospital.

Flaky, Giggles, and Sniffles had left him alone after he'd fallen asleep, they then decided that Giggles would stay behind to watch over the male since Sniffles might only make things worse.

The chipmunk was weary, leaning against a wall, she couldn't believe the fact that Flippy had been assaulted. "He was such a nice guy, wait, he still is, I doubt he'll stop being nice just because of this . . . poor guy, he must feel like every shred of his pride has been stripped away."

"Oh, I beg to differ." A voice said.

"Who-" She turned suddenly- "said that?" How come I didn't hear anyone approach?

"I still have a lot of ways to degrade him, and even if I didn't, my fun is far from over." It continued, there was a tone to it that made Giggles realize that this was the person who had abused Flippy in the first place.

Giggles didn't recognize that voice's owner at all though, and she knew all the tree friends well enough to name them off in ten seconds. "Why would you do something so horrible? Flippy doesn't deserve to suffer!" She retorted, her fists clenching, she swung suddenly and felt her fist strike something, and then there was a bemused chuckle.

"Little chipmunk, do you really think that hurt?" It growled, right before two paws grabbed her neck and twisted. She dropped dead. "Like killing babies." It said, a sinister laugh escaping it's muzzle.

It opened the door, taking in the gorgeous sight before it, his prize lay sleeping, heart rate monitors and Iv lines attached. Despite the lights being off, it could see all this, the stranger had developed superior night vision over time. With the stealth that came from years of experience, he walked closer.

Eyes scanned the bear, catching on the bandaged chest and then, pulling the sheets down, the figure indulged even further in the bandaged leg. "Two testaments, you just don't know it yet, but you'll see, unlike all the wounds you've gotten before, these two are special, I spent a lot of time figuring them out."

It held up it's arm, a straight scar about two inches long that ran across the back of its hand was faintly visible in the pale light of the heart monitor, "I even used myself to test it."

Pulling out a pair of scissors, the silhouette cut the IV line with one deft snip.

Almost immediately, Flippy's face scrunched up, as though he already felt the pain returning.

He groaned, and his eyes snapped open. Flickering left and right, Flippy tried to see, but his eyes were foggy and his mind slow. He felt a flutter of fear though.

"So you awaken, my pet." The male breathed aggressively, making Flippy jump in fear and wince in pain as he aggravated his painful injuries.

"What's the matter, do you hurt?" He chuckled, his paw running up and down the bear's leg, applying enough pressure to make Flippy whimper in pain. "You do? Good."

"Wh-wh-o are you?" Flippy squeaked, pushing away at the offending paw, but all that did was make the unknown creature's paw go lower, almost like it knew exactly what it was after.

"I'm," it began, smugly, stroking roughly at Flippy's groin before sliding beneath his rear and squeezing, "your worst nightmare."

Flippy screamed, his eyes were wide and he knew all he needed to know, this stranger, this . . . bastard, was going to hurt him, had hurt him already. And now he was in the dark, vulnerable, and alone with his rapist.

"No! Don't touch me!" He cried out, kicking his legs wildly and trying to do anything to make the male stop touching him.

More pressure was applied as the stranger grabbed both legs and jerked Flippy near the end of the hospital bed, said bear still lay on his back, squirming and trying to grasp onto something, anything to halt his movement, but he only succeeded in aggravating his injuries further. His waist was now hanging over the end of the bed, he felt the paws release his legs briefly.

Flippy freaked and rolled over onto his stomach, the stranger only started laughing at his sudden action.

Flippy failed to find humor in his personal suffering.

"You just did me a favor, now that your tender rear is exposed I can get down to business."

Eyes wide, Flippy uttered a silent prayer to whatever warped god had created the hellhole that was Happy Tree Town and had cursed him with misfortune as well.

"Please don'-" He was cut off when a paw came down, slapping his bruised and battered rear so hard it made his jaw rattle. He tried to scream, but the pain muted him, a hiss of agony was all that managed to escape his maw.

"Hmm? That wasn't quite enough?" The voice asked, and struck a few more times, only now the stranger was raking his claws along the flesh, tearing and gouging the tender skin and making blood well up. The sixth slap finally jarred Flippy enough to make his voice work again, he let loose a scream so pained it would make anyone else feel sadness.

"That's it, scream for me you lowlife piece of shit!" The male purred cruelly, his paw slapping upon the green bear's rear faster, harder, rougher. He reached down, pulling out a sharp razor and slipping it between two fingers so that the blade cut int flesh with each slap.

Unable to fight back the wails that welled up in his chest, Flippy unwillingly complied, screaming and shrieking. The green bear shook his fists and sobbed, blood pooling around his thighs as the slaps were delivered like punches.

"Oh yeah! Music to my ears!"

Flippy didn't know if he'd stay awake, things were growing hazy, he felt his eyes roll back into his head as he passed out.

"Oh, no my pet, we're not quite through yet." The male hissed, his cock throbbing in anticipation, "You are going to see very soon that I'm capable of things beyond your imagination, nightmares aren't even that scary in comparison to me. Trust me, I'll break every last bit of spirit and fight you've got left in your bruised and beaten body."

 

Chapter 4: Awakening To A Nightmare

 

Flippy awoke suddenly when the figure dumped a glass of water on him.

Water drenching his face, Flippy jerked upright, wincing, sputtering, and coughing. "What the hell was that for?" He snapped before his eyes grew wide, he suddenly remembered the past few minutes.

He felt the cold tile beneath him and knew that he was on the floor now.

"Watch your tongue, pet, ah, no, wait." There was a certain tone, like that which one gets when they suddenly have a great idea. "Don't bother watching it, I've got a much better solution." The voice said, it's hips rubbing against his shoulder.

"How about you open that dirty little mouth of yours?" Though it was worded like one, it wasn't a question at all, but a command.

Flippy's skin crawled and he swallowed. "Y-you wo-ouldn't." No, this is too much. I can't take all this, I'm going to go insane.

"Oh? How would you know what I'd do?" The shadow growled, blatantly irritated, "It's either your mouth first or your ass, and I'll put it in your mouth after I fuck you in the ass, so what will it be? Or would you enjoy the taste of shit?"

Flippy's eyes were brimming with tears and he shook his head wildly, "Please, please, I'm begging you, don't!"

Growling the male suddenly had an idea, one that he knew would be perfect. "I'll tell you what, you suck this and I might not screw your tender rear tonight." The male then pointed dramatically to his member.

Flippy froze, there was no other way, if he did this one disgusting thing, maybe he would save his rear, literally. But he couldn't, could he? It was too horrible, never would he even consider the possibility.

He sighed, what did he have to lose? He'd already been raped, sooner or later people would find out that he had gotten beaten up and raped like a little bitch. Then what would they do? Why, they'd laugh, they'd make up gay jokes and call him names, he just knew they would.

He opened his mouth just a little, then a bit more, he hesitated, biting back tears, he opened his mouth all the way, took in some of the male's penis and started sucking. He had to refrain from gagging and he wasn't even halfway there, the taste and knowledge of what he was doing was enough to make him feel sick to his soul.

"Mm-hmm, that's it, there's five and a half inches of it, and you've still got three more to go. Don't stop, and don't you even think about biting." The male growled, thrusting into the bear's mouth, Flippy sobbed and numbly complied.

Maybe if I try to think of something else it will be easier. Let me see, I wonder what type of metal they use in those missiles they used in the war-

The stranger's hips started thrusting, aggitating Flippy's gag reflex and making his gasp and sputter, causing the green-furred male to choke, he was suffocating! He felt a need to breath, his face was paling and as hard as he tried, he couldn't breathe through his nose enough to save him. Even when he did breath through his nose, he only felt a stronger need to retch as he smelled the stranger's pheromone laden crotch.

However, Flippy finally got a chance to breath freely after his assaulter came inside his mouth and pulled out before clamping Flippy's jaw shut and growling at him until he forced himself to swallow it. Only then did he release his hold on the male's jaws.

Flippy doubled over, hacking and wheezing as his throat, mind, chest, and lungs burned in misery and shame. I just pleased the bastard that raped me, I sexually pleasured him!

The stranger watched the green bear gasp and groan in agony, coughing until his throat rasped, he watched it all while grinning sadistically. Finally when Flippy seemed to have just ceased coughing and resulted to wheezy sobs, he spoke up. "Now, for your ass," The male purred.

Flippy glared at him, pleading, hoping that the unknown figure was just joking, but he felt the hope die when he was roughly pinned on his back and then something poked at his rear. "No, y-y-you said you wouldn't" He stammered, fists clenching in terror.

"No, I said I might not." The figure corrected, squeezing the bear's rear roughly, the thing pressed against the tender hole and Flippy shook his head and pounded his fists against the tiled floor as he screamed.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, nooooooooooooo-"

"Shut up!"

A slap struck the side of the bear's face, making him whimper weakly.

"Now, be a good pet and take it like the bitch you are!" He growled as he thrust forward, piercing the whimpering male quick and painfully.

"No. . . " He whispered, his chest and face was wet with tears, and they just kept coming.

The other grunted, paying no heed to the sobbing male, or the fact that all of the wounds had reopened and blood was leaking from Flippy's rear.

He just kept thrusting and thrusting.

There are stories about people who got pleasure from this? Flippy wondered incredulously. If there really are people who do, then they either love feeling like shit, or I just got a rapist who has no mercy. He knew he wasn't feeling anything but pain because he didn't think he could. He just shut his eyes and tried to think of anything, anything at all that might sooth his soul. I can't stop fighting yet, not yet, I know I can't. . .

With a grunt, the unknown male pulled out of him and came all over Flippy's stomach, somehow managing to make matters worse.

Flippy stared up at him, with eyes that held only a faint glimmer of spirit left in them. He was fighting a losing battle, but he was still fighting. He whimpered and rolled over onto his left side, looking away fro the shadow.

"I see you still have some fight left, very well, I'll return again, when your not expecting it." The male roughly slapped Flippy's raw, cut, bleeding, battered, and bruised rear before he left, but the green bear didn't feel it, or if he did, he didn't respond, he was hollow, his mind was blank. He had slipped inside of his mind, slipped away from the reality of his blood and semen stained body. Away from the throbbing pain that was on his ass and inside of it as well. He was seeking refuge in no-man's land.

The door opened and had he looked, he would of seen the face of his attacker, but he was unaware, things were cloudy, it was all like a dream, a horrible dream, nothing but a dream. The door shut.

His only movement after the whole thing was to curl up in the fetal position and stare at the wall with unseeing eyes.

Sniffles was right, I should've died, I wish I had, why am I still alive, I don't understand it, there's so much blood and damage. . . I should be dead, then maybe I'd revive and be better, at least for a little while.

And that's exactly how Flaky, Sniffles, and the newly revived Giggles found him the next morning, laying in a puddle of dried blood and semen, looking as if despite their efforts, their friend was destined to be ravaged beyond logic.


	3. Don't Give Up!

"Who would do this?" Flaky cried, wiping Flippy's body off with a warm washrag, said bear sat in the bathtub, impassive, if Flaky didn't know better, she'd swear he was dead, truth be told he was dead, at least, he felt dead. His eyes were void of both life and emotion, he didn't respond to much, mainly Sniffles or any general male's presence, and that reaction was loud screams and Flippy throwing everything he could reach at the offender.

His new wounds were healing quickly, as was normal for a tree friend. For several hours they'd let him bath, making certain to get every last bit of his attacker's seed off of him, the presence of it all would only upset him worse now, they felt guilty, and helpless as they stared at their friend.

"I really don't know," Giggles said, she occasionally touched her bow to make sure it was still straight, the female was known to be vain, yes; a bitch when she was mad, yes; the one girl you didn't ever want to piss of, absolutely; a drama queen, sometimes, but she was also very caring. "I couldn't get a look at him, he was there, and then he was gone, like he was a shadow."

Flippy's eyes shut, the bruised one still opened only a small amount, but it wasn't as tender, of course nothing felt tender or sore, because noting felt anything. Flippy was numb to the world.

"I'm sorry Flippy!" Giggles squeaked, noticing his response to the last word she'd uttered. "I didn't mean to make you upset." The chipmunk had failed to memorize every one of the words that made the male withdraw into himself more.

The bear stayed with his eyes closed for a few more seconds before forcing himself to relax and giving her a curt nod as though he was saying he forgave her.

"It's weird, he killed me without hesitating, yet he didn't even try to kill you, Flippy. Why? Why would he keep letting you stay alive, wouldn't you eventually catch a glimpse of him after he was done if you were still alive? Why risk it?" Giggles asked, her mind trying to figure it all out.

Flippy gazed blankly at her, his shoulders twitched and then rose slightly, as if trying to shrug.

Flaky reached out and touched his chest, "How odd, he's had this wound for five days now, it's still here though. Normally it would've disappeared by now, everything else heals slower too. Wait. . ."

She pulled back before touching it again, that wasn't a scab, it was a scar. "Giggles, look. It's become a scar."

"What? Impossible, the only way for a scar to appear on a tree friend is to if said animal was hurt outside of Happy Tree Town, and Sniffles found him inside."

Flippy glanced at his chest blankly. He seemed to gaze at the crooked scar for a long time before gazing at them again. The porcupine's heart ached at that empty stare, sure Flippy still responded to a few commands and another male's presence, but it wasn't anything like she wanted him to react. She wanted him to be livelier, speak more, whatever else had happened last night was lost to the silence.

She sighed. "Okay Flippy, stand up and get out of the tub, I'll give you a towel to wrap around your waist and then we can start drying you off."

He silently complied. She handed him a towel, as she'd promised, but her eyes caught on the other wound, the one on the bear's left leg. It too had begun to heal, but it was taking longer on account of how deep it was, but she wore it looked like a . . . her eyes widened, but she forced herself not to respond. If she pointed it out or drew attention to the wound, it would upset the damaged bear tenfold.

There was no way his current state was stable enough to take another blow. "I'll put some fresh bandages on your leg wound, okay?"

He nodded, rubbing the towel against himself unceremoniously, he seemed to tremble at the towel's touch on occasion whenever it brushed against his more sacred areas. Flaky and Giggles helped him put his jacket back on, the male left the front of it open, as if he was afraid to hid the scar.

Said porcupine handed him his beret before beginning to bandage his leg.

"All his wounds heal so fast, aside from the ones he sustained that night and the mental ones, that is." Giggles commented.

"I know, here, Flippy, let's get you back in the bed, I bet you're hungry."

He was about to reply, but then he tried to remember what he had ate last, suddenly he recalled the previous night, the sick taste of his attacker's semen still lingering faintly. Bile rose in his throat and he turned around and lunged towards the sink, puking up everything he had eaten in the past day or two, the bear felt nauseous at the sight of his own vomit and only continued to dry heave, he kept gasping, hoping to calm his breathing as his stomach tried to force the now nonexistent contents up still.

He felt someone rubbing his back and forced himself not to freak out while he gagged on the air. "What happened?" Flaky asked, his ears swiveled and then lowered, they couldn't know. No one could know!

He shook his head, turning the hot water knob, washing the sink clean, holding his paws beneath the faucet he rinsed as much bile as he could from his mouth, when he lifted his head up, his reflection stunned him.

He had spent years in the war, had fought fights he didn't want to, had killed when he never planned on it, and he had never looked so damaged. His eyes had lost their shine, they were like dull black stones with only a faint glimmer, his fur was unkempt and ragged, because he no longer even tried to maintain it, and the scar on his chest made him feel tears flow from his eyes.

A scar was something he'd never lose, it would stay there forever. Everyone would see it, and they would know. He turned around, and stared at Giggles and Flaky. "He. . . .He's . . . won." He whispered, the words were just audible enough for Giggles to hear, she glowered and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Don't you dare give up!" She shouted, Flaky reached out to stop her, but she pulled back when a ear-piercing slap rang out and Giggles growled a warning to her. "Don't stop me, he can't give up, if he gives up, why the hell should we bother?" She stared at him. "You don't stop fighting," She told him.

Flippy didn't respond, he just shook his head and traced the scar on his chest over and over as he relived the previous night's events inside his head. "But he's . . . won, he'll never stop . . ."

Suddenly he was pulled out of the reverie by a brutal slap to his face. He growled, the last person who had attacked him had done that had gotten away with it, but there was no way a female was going to do it as well, he may have once been against hitting a girl, but if one was going to start something, damnit, he was going to end it! A sudden urge to fight erupted, one of the few instincts that never died no matter how badly injured an animal was came alive. He grappled with her, clawing and struggling to overpower her as they went down, rolling around and trying to defeat each other.

"Stop it you two!" Flaky shouted, trying to grab Giggles, but they were a mass of fur and fury.

Neither even paused, Giggles was surprisingly powerful for such a petite female, she had already latched onto his arm and bitten down until blood flowed freely from her bite. She spat the blood and grinned, her eyes smug when she felt him kick her off and then grab a hold of her neck. "Look at you now, Flippy, look, you're fighting. I'm willing to die over and over to prove it. You can still fight. You still can win."

His eyes narrowed in anger before he suddenly realized what she'd done. He had been so traumatized he was willing to give in to the sick abuse of the attacker without resistance, but Giggles still wanted him to fight. His paw loosened and he nodded, he was still so damaged, but if Giggles was willing to risk her neck if it meant she could make him fight, if only just a little bit longer. "You . . . think so, but he . . . he raped me. . . twice."

Giggles nodded firmly. "If I was raped ten thousand times I'd still fight, if you stop fighting he'll just do it even more. That bastard might think he can win, but you're going to prove him wrong, or would you rather be his sex toy for the rest of eternity?" The last bit made him raise his paw to strike her, but then he realized what she'd meant.

"Hell no! I want to castrate him personally, there's nothing I'd rather do than rip off his balls and shove them down his throat!" He roared, hissing and full of rage.

Giggles sat up, her eyes determined. "That's the spirit, you might not be able to maintain that mantra in the face of your attacker, but remember, you're not just any bear, your Flippy the bear!"

Already he felt the pep talk's effect dimming, he decided that he'd fight, even if he died a thousand times in the process, he'd fight, no matter how weak the attempts, he wouldn't give in.

Flaky tried to reprimand Giggles for her insane actions after they'd left the room four minutes later, but the chipmunk silenced her with an upheld paw. "Save it Flakes, that stunt helped him out much more than our pity ever does. It gave him the will to fight, however small it may be."

"Would you really continue to fight if you were raped ten-thousand times?"

Grinning she replied, "No, I'd have killed the bastard on the first try, but men aren't as strong in the face of sexual abuse as us females. They feel like rape is the end of everything, as do we, but they also feel a deeper trauma in their minds, men aren't usually able to comprehend a man getting raped as they are a female. It's a complicated matter."

The porcupine nodded, her eyes wide. "I think the news mentioned a storm would get here tonight."

Glancing over her shoulder, back at the door, Giggles frowned, "I hope not."

 

Chapter 6: Widespread Power Outage And Protection?

 

"So the voice wasn't familiar?" Sniffles asked. He hated that there was no new data for him to use, without more information he was running out of possible options.

Giggles shook her head, "I already told you earlier I didn't, and you know I can recognize someone by their voice alone, yet he didn't sound like anyone we know. He must be a newcomer." She shook her head, "No, not a new newcomer, a person who knew Flippy and hated him, perhaps, could it possibly be someone who knew him in the war?"

"It's possible," Sniffles mused, straightening his glasses. "Or maybe a newcomer who has been holding a severe grudge against him for some time."

Flaky tilted her head, "So . . . what do we do to protect Flippy?"

Sniffles intertwined his paws together and thought aloud, "Well, it's complicated, he's well physically enough to leave, but mentally, he's extremely unstable. Giggles may have eased the burden by snapping Flippy back into a semi-reality, but he's so unstable, it's best to be easier on him. Protecting him is also a big issue because we don't have any information on the attacker, I'd say our best bet would be to give him a bodyguard of sorts, a guardian."

"A . . . protector?" Giggles echoed, uncertainly.

"Who? I don't want to hire the guys, Flippy really doesn't want this to spread to them, he'll never forgive us if we betray his trust like that."

"I know," he said, "there's not really anything else for us to do, for now, we'll lock the hospital up as tightly as possible, you two said you have somewhere to go and I'm going to head home and try to unravel some of these mysteries."

They nodded, Flaky stood up, knowing she should mention the wound on Flippy's leg, but uncertain as to whether or not she had just been seeing things. 'It . . . err, no, no, it wasn't what I thought it was.'

Four hours after they'd locked up and headed home/; the storm hit.

Flippy trembled and nudged the mashed potatoes around with his fork, stabbing and disfiguring the white mush. He would have eaten it, but the thought of something white, warm, and squishy made him gag. As did anything that was even remotely white in colour, mayonnaise would never look the same again. He sighed, glancing up at the window. 'Don't worry, I'm sure the storm will be over soon.' He told himself.

Suddenly he jerked nervously when a loud crack of lightning rang out, his plate fell to the floor, and the metal fork was lost beneath the bed. The need to find the fork was urgent. The steel utensil was perhaps all he had to protect him if the bastard returned tonight.

The lights went off right as he grabbed the fork firmly, and a scream rose out of his throat as he panicked.

The whole damn city had just had a power outage.

"Noooooooooooooooooo!" Flippy screamed, pounding the floor angrily. Weakly glancing around but seeing nothing but an endless void, an endless darkness.

 

The figure's eyes widened in surprise when every house's lights went out, he grinned, 'I think that shoud be taken as a sign.' He thought, his paws twitching in excitement as he set off towards the hospital.

Behind him, hidden in the darkness, a chocolate cat followed him, it's lavender green eyes narrowed as it watched with a knowing look, then, tail flicking in annoyance, it stalked after the male. The feline knew he might not be the flat out strongest tree friend, but he was the only hope on this dismal night. He was strong enough to defend himself, he had after all, trained for some time. And now that training was going to be needed.

Even the rain soaking his fur didn't dissuade him on his trek. He uttered a soft prayer to the sky above, a few words and a single name escaped his lips, "Oh, dear fated totems. . . help me with this."

 

Flippy rolled back and forth, the fork clutched against his chest as though it was the only tie he had to reality, the phobia that had been born of too many dark nights claiming him. The bear's eyes were shut, and memories of the night of his first rape began to come back, only small pieces, but enough to make him whimper.

It was right after the windshield broke and he'd passed out.

Suddenly Flippy's face hit a rock, the impact making his face hurt, he groaned, trying to push himself up, but he couldn't. There was a weight upon his back, a pair of feet were placed at the right areas to restrain him, one said foot ground down, forcing him to exhale harshly in order to ease the pressure upon his diaphragm.

"Who the hell are you?" He screamed, trying to escape beneath the stranger.

A voice whispered harshly as a paw grabbed his tail and pulled so hard it made the male feel shooting pains up his spine. "Someone that you'll never forget."

He let out a confused sound, but suddenly the weight was gone, and he was being hefted. He squirmed, clawing at the air, cold steel suddenly touched his stomach and chest as he was pressed against a vehicle; his vehicle.

He jerked his head back and stared straight into the face of . . .

"I . . . I know I saw him, why can't I remember his face!" Flippy exclaimed, his eyes burning with tears, he groaned, "If I can only remember what he's done, but not who he is, what good is it? I need to see his face!" He screamed.

There came the sound of glass breaking and Flippy stiffened, his pac-man eyes shifted about, the abyss of darkness reigned supreme around him. 'He's here, shit!' He dropped the fork, but quickly reached out for it, wincing when he pricked a digit on a prong. He coddled the fork, knowing that if it came down t it -and it surely would- the little piece of steel was his best defense.

The place was a cacophony of sounds, the guy was apparently making even more noise to unnerve him. How the hell was he able to see?

Suddenly a snapping of wood rang out and he knew thee door was being pried off of its hinges. He gazed in the area, the darkness only graced him with a blurry outline of the door as it was thrown aside and someone lept inside, rushing closer, then he was tackled to the floor.

"Your friends thought they'd barricade the place, heh, I'm too experienced to let their petty idiotic attempts hinder me-" His boast was cut short as Flippy shrieked and stabbed blindly at him, landing a jab in the shadow's side with the fork.

"You little bitch!" He exclaimed, his hands retreating before one lashed out and grabbed Flippy's balls squeezing them so tightly their owner thought his heart was going to stop.

The good green bear writhed and wailed, fighting harder and harder as his adrenaline spiked and he struggled even more. His instincts came into effect once more, he narrowed his eyes in rage and pain. Suddenly he heard a second voice, this one was ten times more calm, but the anger was becoming ever present. He glanced over, and a flicker of lightning briefly lit the feline's face before the room faded back into night.

He felt the attacker's grip loosen before the male was thrown off of him by the newcomer's attack.

Gasping, Flippy rolled over, clutching his damaged property delicately, damn that had hurt!

A loud scuffle, the sound of fists and claws as they fought for control. A few minutes later a pained yowl rang out and Flippy heard the shadow chuckle. "Hmm, that cat didn't stand much of a chance, did he?" The shadow asked, "I do wonder where the bastard came from and how he followed me in here without me knowing it. Now, as for you." He continued, pulling Flippy upward by an ear. "I see you've gotten some of your will to fight back, what a pity, I really can't let you keep getting hopeful. I'm going to have to put even more effort into breaking your spirit."

Suddenly the green male was forced into a kiss so rough it bruised his lips. The unknown offender was abusing the ursine's mouth as much as possible, purposefully hurting Flippy with the kiss. The kiss was not worthy of being called a kiss, it was harsh, abrasive, bruising, and without a hint of either love nor kindness, it was just a sadistic pain-filled attack upon the mouth.

His nose was pinched shut after a few more seconds, making Flippy narrow his eyes in confusion, struggling as best as he could and trying unsuccessfully to breathe.

Eyes wide and tears flowing in horror, the green-furred bear pushed and struggled as he felt the urge to breathe but was unable to. The mysterious male let out a satisfied sound as he heard Flippy's desperate whines and felt the male's pulse quicken beneath his grasp.

Finally, right before Flippy had lost total consciousness, the stranger released his mouth. "You know, you're really quite a treat, so available and you never stop amusing me with those cute little attempts at fighting back." He said, growling huskily.

Flippy shivered and shut his eyes, hoping that the male would just abuse him and leave, he didn't like the way the guy was talking. He didn't want to hear his body slandered with lewd terms, he didn't want to hear some sick twisted "compliments", and he sure as hell didn't want to be sexually abused again! But at least the raping he received was without direct dialogue, for his attacker to speak to Flippy and not towards him made the guy seem more humane rather than detached, and he didn't want him to act like that! The more humanely the guy acted the more it hurt to think someone humane could treat him.

'Why did Evil have to leave me? Sure it was nice, but then this bastard showed up, now I know exactly how damn badly I depended on my darker half.' Flippy thought remorsefully.

"Would you like to choose what I do to you this time? Hmm? The lesser of two evils? Choose your poison, sound good to you?" The words were hissed with a mocking tone and suddenly Flippy screamed and rolled away, scrabbling in the darkness.

"Fuck no! Leave me alone already, just leave me alone!" 'How the hell is he keeping track of where I'm at? A bat would probably be hindered in this darkness.' He continued rolling right before he rolled into a wall and grunted in surprise.

His little bob of a tail was grabbed and he felt his rear lifted up, a painful experience if there ever was one, however, he knew there was more to come. He kicked wildly, and then felt the tip of the bastard's cock, gulping he shut his eyes reflexively and sobbed.

"If you won't choose, then allow me," The fiend said dryly.

The paw that was grasping his tail loosened and let go, making the male fall down, jarring his still bruised jewels. He bit his lip. Suddenly a low growl that was not his attacker's reached his ears, his attacker seemed unaware of the sound.

A furry tail brushed against Flippy's side as something lunged at his attacker. It was the cat again! The sound of claws ripping flesh and the smell of metallic blood filled the air around Flippy, then he heard the scuffle come even closer to him as it intensified. Seven minutes later he heard one of them flee, whatever had happened, there was a lot of stumbling and crashing as if the animal had no ideal how to navigate. Flippy's eyes widened, was it his savior, or his rapist that had fled? He wasn't too sure if he wanted to know.

A paw touched him, reacting on self defense, he turned his head around and then bit down, sinking his teeth into the flesh of the unknown anima's arm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have always hated rape oneshots where it's like someone gets raped, and an hour later he/she's doing a person because he/she "needs to feel true love". Rape is a traumatic thing, you don't get over it in an HOUR you're lucky to get over it in half a year or even two years, most people still suffer from symptoms of it for the rest of their life though. I cannot see a rape victim turn around and ask to have sex when the memories are so fresh and the damage is so is damaging, it is long term, it isn't like the next morning you wake up and go, "I'm going to sleep with my boyfriend/girlfriend," most relationships are ruined by rape, very few can stand strong when one person is freaking out every time they see another person or hear words that make them relive memories.
> 
> And the fact that they write about the victim's relationships staying perfectly fine with their boyfriend/girlfriend pisses me off even more. A girl that's been raped by a guy may love her boyfriend to death, but she'll probably act so unlike her old self around him that it strains the relationship. Rape victims tend to lash out at people, have moments where they black out or become so angry they loose control, how does that make for a good relationship? That's walking on eggshells if you ask 's another reason I started this, because people misrepresent rape and I believe those things are serious and need to be portrayed at least somewhat more correctly.
> 
>  
> 
> Also I have to clarify something again, people have assumed Fliqpy(Evil) is part of Flippy in this fic, but Flippy blatantly pointed out that the male has been absent from his life for months in the first chapter. Apparently that wasn't very noticeable, so let me say this: Evil isn't around in this one, in this fic, Lumpy's idiotic attempts at curing Flippy's flip-outs in the episode "Double Whammy" actually worked.
> 
> Yeah, as if Lumpy could actually do that right! But anyway, Evil's not around...


	4. His Protector?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An OC? His main reason for being in this fic is because here are only twenty-one Happy Tree Friends characters and of them, I can only see Lifty, Shifty, Giggles, and possibly Petunia(when she's OCD-ing out) fighting off an attacker. And none of them would fit the part in this story, Lifty and Shifty are thieves, Giggles has no way of knowing what was happening, and Petunia would get her pansy-ass handed over in a millisecond. This character has been around for quite some time, but he was never meant to become something extraordinarily special, just your typical brown cat who has a currently unevaluated motive for saving Flippy, the main thing he wanted to do was piss the unknown male off, and I would have to say he succeeded. The feline's name and information will be revealed in the second part.

"Ow, hey, easy there bloke, it's me." The unseeable male screeched, his tail flicking out to beat the side of Flippy's cranium.

"The cat?"

"Yeah, although that's not what my mother named me. She christened me Java." He replied, groaning with obvious disgust. "I hate the stuff, but I'm named after it."

Flippy relaxed and then felt terror sweep across his entire being, he now had this guy to deal with. "What are you going to do to me?" He gazed about, trying to see what the male was doing. Was he planning to rape him as well? Or would he hopefully just kill him?

Something was slipped over his head and positioned in front of his eyes, he jerked in fear but the feline hissed warningly. Gazing through the goggles, Flippy could see his surroundings through a green tint, he gazed at the cat before he realized what the object was. "Night vision goggles?"

A bob of Java's head was the reply. "Yes, he was wearing them, that's how he could attack you and I so accurately without missing a beat." Java explained. "When I stripped him of his vision, he had no choice but to flee. I, on the other paw, was severely handicapped in this much darkness, but I did have just enough sight to locate and attack him, my sensitive whiskers also picked up on the disturbances in the air his actions caused."

"But . . . what are you going to do to me?" Flippy repeated, his eyes wide with fright. "You had to have a reason to risk your tail other than just good samaritanism."

Java's muzzle scrunched up in confusion. "Do? Why would I do anything to you?" The male scratched at his neck and Flippy saw a wound in his neck that was crusted with blood.

"How are you still alive?" The green bear asked.

"Ah, this, I'm lucky someone or something watches over my species." He replied, he touched Flippy's shoulder, to which said male jerked away and fell on his back before distancing himself even further.

"Shit, sorry man, I forgot about how badly he messed you up." Java said, holding a paw against his temple. "Jeesh, this would have been the third time he would have raped you if I had not stopped him, wouldn't it?"

Flippy's eyes grew wide, he whispered fearfully. "How do you know about that?" He shut his eyes and breathed in deeply. 'Giggles, Sniffles, and Flaky knew, no he knows, how?'

"I'd rather not, if you knew too much, it would only make you more upset." The Burmese replied, backing off.

"Tell me." The bear growled, fury lining his voice.

"Your attacker likes to brag . . . he tends to talk to himself late at night when he thinks no one can hear him."

"Your going to see soon, I'm capable of things beyond your imagination, nightmares aren't even that scary in comparison to me. Trust me, I'll break every last bit of spirit and fight you've got left."

The words echoed in his mind. He curled up, was this another attack? Was he going to have the secret spread across the town by his own attacker? He breathed deeply, in, out, in, out, in . . . out. He felt his heart speed up dramatically and squeezed his eyes even tighter.

"Hey, come on now, don't freak out. I'll do my best to protect you from him, I may not look like much, but he can't kill me as easily as he can kill the others." Java said, trying to comfort the male.

"It doesn't matter, if everyone in the whole damn town knows they'll hate me!"

"Hate you, why? I know and I hate him, not you. What would make them any different?"

"Because, you're just a newcomer, all the others know I'm perfectly capable of defending myself, but I failed, and he raped me!"

"He caught you off guard, he got lucky, he's capable of killing without being seen, yet I got the jump on him, is he any weaker, hell no! But you, you're even stronger than him."

Flippy shook his head and sniffed. "Impossible, he raped me, and I just took it."

"You fought against him, right?" Flippy nodded. "And you are still willing to fight against him if he tries it again, right?" Another nod. "Then you are stronger than him, he tries to break you, but can't, and when you continue to fight him, it makes him furious because he knows he still can't break you." Java offered a paw. "Here, get up, let's go outside, it's a bit lighter out there."

Flippy stood up, refusing to accept the offered paw and choosing to stand on his own. The goggles allowed him to find the doorway and he walked towards it.

Java's tail suddenly reached out and held him back for a second. "Let me make sure everything is clear first." He disappeared and returned within a few minutes. "Yeah, he hightailed it out of here, the no good s.o.b."

Flippy just walked off ahead, he didn't really know the male much, why converse with him when the bear didn't even know what he got out of saving him in the first place.

Outside he felt the wind blow against his jacket, the open clothe fluttered defiantly in the wind. He sighed and touched the scar on his chest.

The night was as dark and unloving as the monster who attacked him each night. 'Odd thing is, he never hurt me while I was unconscious those four days. Is it because he wanted me to be awake to fully experience the pain, or did he just enjoy sneaking into the room and watching me sleep, completely unaware of what was coming?'

"Whatcha thinking about? You aren't thinking of him, are you?" Java piped up. Paw hovering above the male's shoulder, mindful not to touch

Turning, he looked at the cat. "You refer to him the same way I do, yet surely you have seen what he looks like, right?" There was a small glint of hope in his eyes as he stared at the male.

" . . . I cannot answer."

"Why not?" Flippy snapped, his hope smoldering into anger.

"Because I haven't seen him, I've only thought I have."

"What?"

"He's stealthy, hard to catch, even harder to see, and he kills so fast no one even spots a glimpse of him before they die."

Flippy's head drooped, then he gazed upward. "I understand, It's odd that he's so good at staying hidden."

Suddenly the lights on all the buildings flickered and came on, the ones in the hospital included. "I guess I can go back in, but I doubt I'll sleep at all." Flippy said sadly, removing the goggles and staring at the cream-furred male without having to do so through the green tinted goggles for the first time.

"I'll watch over you, if you like. I swear on my life no harm will befall you."

"Very strong swear, there, you sure?" The bear wondered, walking back inside the building.

"Yes," Java nodded. "I am bound to my word, and I also have eyes for another, so she is all I need in life."

"Who is she? You said she protected you earlier, but we were the only two animals there."

"Oh, Lady Bastet is not an animal, she is a Goddess, she is my spiritual protector."

Suddenly Flippy realized that the male was saying that Bastet was the Feline's version of God. "Oh, I understand now. So you're bound to her? Like a celibate?"

His head bobbed wildly. "Yes, exactly!"

"Okay, well . . . " He yawned widely, laying his head down. "I'm just going to take a ten minute nap, I'll take your word for it this time, let's hope you don't let both me and Bastet down."

At the mention of his lady, Java stiffened and grumbled a small "hell will freeze when I fail her" before standing guard at the doorway.

The night waned into morning and Java's eyes never even grew heavy, he felt obligated to hold true to his promise, he had no plans of upsetting Bastet. Forgiving goddess or no, he did not like to let her down.

Suddenly he picked up on approaching footsteps, he glanced over his shoulder and smirked. "Still sleeping, atta boy."

When a light blue anteater caught sight of him he froze. Both stared at each other in silence before the feline's gaze was drawn to a red dandruff-laden porcupine and a pink chipmunk. The chipmunk paused for a millisecond and then stormed over to him, pushed him aside hastily, and checked on Flippy before glaring at him in curiosity. She then made a gesture that told the other two tree friends that it was okay.

When they had all made sure Flippy was alright, Giggles spoke accusingly. "Who are you?"

He tried not to frown at their distrusting glares, but it was hard not to feel uneasy. "Hello, please don't be concerned, my name is Java, I am a master at self defense and a protector of the weak." He said, his tail flicking in amusement at the female's silence. "Thing is, I won't be protecting Flippy so much as identifying his killer, if I can. I protected Flippy from his rapist last night, but I didn't get a good look given the power outag-"

"A pussycat like you?" Giggles snapped, rolling her eyes in disbelief. "If I set a bowl of milk down I could easily get past you to Flippy without you ever seeing a glimpse of me." She then nodded to Flaky and Sniffles and mouthed, "He's not the killer, his voice isn't gruff enough or low enough to even be close."

"I assure you that is quite impossible, I'm lactose intolerant." he quipped smugly, yet another reason he hated coffee. "As for yarn, I'm not fond of it at all, any other kitty jokes you'd like to toss at me?" He added, then his eyes fell upon Flaky.

The porcupine sat nibbling nervously upon her bottom lip. ". . . Where did you come from?"

Java glanced at the ceiling, "I suppose the best retort would be my mother, but I've lived outside of this town for years, inside, only one, my hunger and curiosity have brought me here."

Giggles grumbled. "I suppose you are the male who saved Petunia that one time from getting mugged by Lifty and Shifty, no?"

"I'll assume you speak of the skunk with a flower in her fur and a pine tree scented deodorizer around her neck, if so, yes, I did. That was a rare occasion." He mused.

"I'll say, who wants to save Petunia's blue ass?" The chipmunk snickered. Suddenly she sobered. "Wait, she never mentioned anyone like you when she spoke of her dates. . . so, you didn't date her?"

"No, I told her I couldn't because I was a celibate."

"Hot damn, Petunia has never found a male who would turn her down and win, everyone else gives in eventually!" The female exclaimed in excitement.

"Really, I had no idea." He replied.

Sniffles straightened his glasses. "How did you fight the attacker off, and why is your throat cut?" He asked, staring in shock at the wound that was already healing.

Java sighed and began reciting the events that had occurred the previous night. Occasionally glancing at Flippy's sleeping form. He hoped the bear got a little bit more rest before the racket woke him.

 

Chapter 8: Defensiveness And Comfort

 

"So you defend people who need it?" Giggles asked, rolling her eyes.

So far she had poked and prodded Java as he spoke of the prior night's events until he felt like refusing to speak because all she did was make snide remarks and doubt his words the whole time.

"Yes, miss cynical, I also believe that rape is a vile, filthy act, now tell me that's hard to believe."

Giggles leered at the male. "Nope,"

She turned and began speaking quietly to Sniffles, as though he was not worthy of hearing their conversation.

Java's's eyes went to Flaky, "So, bluey, what's your attachment to Flippy? These two are companions, but you, you look look like you are more attached. Not at the heart, but at the emotional soul."

Flaky's eyes got big, she felt even more confused. "Ehhh, we-well, ah, why are you calling me bluey?"

He grinned, his eyes glimmering with a slight childish glee. "It's a silly nickname, no? But it suits you. My old habits die hard and calling you bluey is rather low key. Just between you and I, I really don't want an ear bashing from either the pink lass, nor the dag."

"oh, okay. . . " She replied, uncertain and even more confused.

Flippy suddenly squeaked, his feet kicking the covers off and then he rolled over, grabbing the pillow before throwing it. In his sleep he was fending off the memories of his attacker, clawing, kicking, biting, if it meant he would escape, he'd do it.

"I'll wake him." Sniffles said, but then stopped as Flaky blocked him.

"Don't, he'll freak if you're the first thing he sees." She warned.

"Ah, well, he's already freaking, and if you lack the wits to help, I'll have at." The feline cut in, stepping up and swishing his tail a few times before he prodded the male in the side with a claw.

Flippy tried to ignore the incessant poking, but it only intensified, with a growl he lashed out, and fell over the bed side. "Damn, where am I?" He grumbled, then, his eyes shot open and he glanced around fearfully before he noticed he was still in the hospital, he started to relax, but froze again.

"You okay, Flippy?" Giggles asked, but said bear was only staring fearfully at the anteater beside her. He reached towards the first thing he could find, which was his discarded pillow, and threw it at Sniffles.`

"Get away from me, get away! Get out!" He screamed, yanking a drawer from the bed stand and throwing it full force at the male, a shower of splinters erupting when Sniffles barely dodged it.

"Okay, okay, easy now, Flippy, I'm going, see?" He murmured, holding his hands out flat and backing away quickly. As soon as he was gone, the bear grew slightly less tense, his shoulders slumped and he breathed in and out swiftly. "Ugh!" He exclaimed, falling on his rear, cupping his face, and rocking back and forth.

"Are you okay, Flippy?" Flaky asked.

Seething, he ground his teeth together and shot her a glare, "Do I look okay? Do I Flaky?"

He pointed at Giggles then, "You left me, you left my hide exposed so that bastard could hurt me again, didn't you?"

She lowered her gaze to the tile floor. "No! Sniffles said it would be okay, he assured me that . . . " She froze, upon raising her eyes, she realized the male was standing mere inches before her with furious eyes.

"He said, he assured, he told you, and you believed him? A half-baked . . . " He flailed his paws in the air angrily, so pissed he couldn't even form the right word.

"Idiot?" Java offered.

The bear's eyes widened as he stared at the feline, but his fury unspent, he returned to berating the pink female. "A half-baked idiot like him? You honestly want to say that you didn't feel like this was a bad idea? Like you were putting me at risk?"

"Why are y-you so pissed at me? I thought you were mad at Flaky."

A paw pressed roughly against her left shoulder, slamming her against the wall and increasing its pressure. Both females in the room gasped and Java gawped in awe.

"Flaky's not to blame, you guys boss her around like a lapdog, she's berated, chided, scolded, even abused for your amusement. She may be clumsy, but at least she thinks!" He hissed.

"Flippy, please don't hurt her, she didn't know." Flaky pleaded, but he raised his paw to speak.

"What would the world be like if we weren't held responsible just because we 'didn't think'? Do you know, Giggles, how close I came to being raped again? That would have been the third time, all because you didn't have the nerve to protect me."

She shook her head, her eyes wide with terror and pain as the circulation to her arm was being cut off. "But last time I did try to protect you, and it still happened."

Flippy's head tilted, all but expressing his annoyance, his eyes were narrowed and had she not known better, she would have sworn he was flipping. "Do you know what you are telling me?"

A head shake.

"You are claiming that one failure is all the reason you need to desert someone. If you die in this town, you get right back up and live the next day as best as you can. And if at first you don't succeed." He eyed her callously.

She stared at him without knowing what to say.

"I hope you know the rest, otherwise you'll be in big trouble."

She gulped. "Try, try, again."

He removed his paw, turned, and walked towards Flaky, "Good, at least you have some logic left in you." He huffed, his arms crossed as he stood beside the fidgeting porcupine.

"I'm s-so-sorry Flippy." The red-furred female whimpered.

His eyes turned upon her, blinking in confusion. "What for?"

"Being useless." She whispered, her head hung low.

"Flaky! Don't you dare talk like that!" He shouted, his eyes hardening as he glared at Giggles who merely gazed back timidly before she huffed and left the room. "You are brave, you just know your limits, besides, the last thing I'd want if for you to get hurt because of me, I'm starting to see that the only person who can really protect me are me, myself, and I."

"Hey, look here man, I did a fine job last night defending your ass, and if you think I'm going to be an offsider on this matter, you're mad as a snake grabbed by its tail, got it?" Java snapped.

The bear's eyes hardened, he shivered, eyes softening slowly, and nodded. "I suppose. . . "

"Don't suppose, do! If I get held back from having a fair go at this son of a whore." He snarled, his ears pulling back. "I would not wish rape upon anyone, least of all you."

"You're opinion is unwavering." Flippy stated.

"I would not be so close to others or so kind if my faith was able to be shaken even a little bit."

Flippy groaned, again with this stuff, this cat was dedicated! He felt a paw on his shoulder, Flaky was eying him softly "Flippy, did you eat any of your dinner last night?" She asked, apparently trying to ease his irritation.

"I ate the cookies, and the turkey, why?"

"I was just wondering, I don't want you to stop eating, you'll get sick if you do." She replied.

He gave her a smile. "That's one of your best traits, Flaky: your kind and caring heart. I'm going to go clean myself up a bit now." He then went into the bathroom and they heard the water turn on.

Java made a gesture towards Flaky with his tail, she walked over. "What is it?"

"We need to help him get better, his reaction to that scientist was so startling, what other males does he know that he might not react violently to?"

"Well, there is Cuddles, Handy, maybe Lumpy, Pop and Cub, and, well, no, not him . . ."

"Not who?"

"This flirty older bear, he flirts with all the girls." She explained, sticking her tongue out as she told of all the male's shameless attempts.

"He's perfect!" The male exclaimed.

"What?" She shrieked.

"If he openly flirts with all the girls, then there's no way Flippy would freak out around him because the guy's obviously only after chicks!" Java grinned.

"Ehh?"

"Okay, think of it like this, you've been beaten up by a man, but you don't know who he is or why he did that, now would you feel more comfortable around a person with a temper, or around a wonderful lady's man."

Eyes wide, she nodded. "Ohh, that's a really good idea!" She exclaimed. "But he's out on a ski trip and won't be back until tomorrow, besides, I know who would be the perfect candidate for this job, and he'll never breath a word of it to anyone else." She said.

"Really, who?"

"Just let me go get him, it will probably only take five minutes." She replied.

Java just eyed her curiously as she left, uncertain about who she was fetching.

 

Flaky had been off by two minutes, really it only took three minutes to find the guy she was looking for and get him to agree to help her out without divulging too much information. Giggles and Sniffles had been amazed by the idea when Flaky explained his presence, and both thought it was ingenious. She told him to wait until she opened the door to come in.

When Flaky walked back inside alone she smiled at Flippy who was laying in the bed now, cleaner and slightly more relaxed. "I brought someone here who I think you can talk to openly."

Flippy's face instantly grew fearful. "W-who?"

She opened the door and a purple deer walked in, Flippy's fear washed away. He won't hurt me, he's the perfect guy to talk to. I'm actually a bit relieved to know he came to see me. "Oh, it's you Mime, hello." He said.

Mime made a few motions, ones that the cat and Flaky found hard to comprehend, but Flippy had always been very good at charades and understood the male's motions. "Yesh, I'm still not well, err. . ." He glanced at the two and gave them a pleading look. Java nudged the porcupine in the side and motioned to leave.

As soon as the door shut, the male looked at the deer. "The whole thing about me breaking my tailbone in a car accident was a cover up. Now then, Mime, can I tell you something really personal and you promise not to tell?"

The deer crossed his heart and nodded, pulling up a chair and smiling weakly.

"Thanks, well you see, thing is, what really happened that night is, I was raped." He said suddenly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, the cat had a big part in this chapter, but he's got to be introduced and defined properly. Seeing as how cats have nine lives, I figured I'd mix that with the normal Happy Tree Friend mysteries and there you have it, the perfect little idea.


	5. Pieces Of A Broken Spirit

Mime covered his mouth and stared in shock at Flippy. He made a few motions, ones that were very exaggerated, several were erratic and many were angry at whoever had done such a thing. Then Mime wiped away tears that gathered in the corners of his eyes.

"Yeah, it was horrible. I'm sorry nobody told you, but hopefully you understand why I wanted it kept a secret."

Mime's gestures reassured the bear, boldly testifying to the fact that he understood the bear keeping it a secret and would never gesture a word of it to anyone else.

"Thank you, Mime. Thing is, he's raped me twice, and almost did again last night."

A low gasp, one of the few sounds the buck actually would allow himself to make, he touched his chest, feeling the ache deep inside at the thought of his friend being hurt like that.

Flippy gave a solemn nod.

Pantomiming his words was easy, but simple grammatical particles were often excluded, the lack of them were not really hindering Mime's gestured sentences, but it was puzzling at times.

Flippy sat up and suddenly held up a finger before he opened the door and looked out, Java was draped across two chairs curled up, probably getting a good power nap to recharge himself. Sniffles was absent, as was Giggles, but Flaky was staring out a window absentmindedly.

"Flaky," He asked, making her startle.

"Huh? What is it, do you need something?" She asked.

"Yes, could you get me a notebook, please?" He replied, his eyes soft and kind.

The female nodded and left her seat, returning with a brand new yellow legal pad a few minutes later. She handed it to him along with a pack of Bic pens.

"Thanks," he said and returned to the room. Mime gazed at the legal pad held in his paw and seemed to catch on immediately. He then began to write when it was handed to him. Flippy sat on the edge of the bed, his toes wiggling as he watched the male put his words onto the paper before handing it back.

'I am very, very sorry Flippy, I can't believe you had to endure that. Do you know who it was?'

Flippy shook his head, "No, even Giggles didn't recognize the voice of the guy when he broke in one night."

Mime gazed at him in surprise, scribbling his response down rapidly.

'That's scary. She knows everyone who is around here, except the newest tree friends. Oh, yeah, I saw that cream-coloured cat outside, who is he?'

Eyes rolling upwards, the bear racked his brain for a decent response. "He's my new friend, his name is Java, he's got some odd opinions, but he's my savior because he rescued me from being raped again last night."

Mime patted the male, his eyes sympathetic.

Flippy tried not to delve into the memories. He shut his eyes, fighting back the tears, fighting back the memories, fighting back the panic that clutched his chest so tightly he could barely breathe. I can't break down right now.

"Look, I'd rather not talk much about this anymore, how about we talk about you?" Flippy said, inhaling deeply and finding a peaceful place in his head.

Mime nodded happily and began scribbling wildly on a new piece of paper, as he went on and on, a small half-torn piece of paper slipped out from within the legal pad.

Mime picked it up, and looked at it for a second curiously, then handed it to Flippy.

'Day 3

He's still unconscious.

Flippy's heartbeat and vitals are steady, but at times he seems to be locked in a nightmare, or perhaps a memory of what was done to him three nights ago. My predictions are that he will awaken either tomorrow or the next day, then we shall evaluate his mental status. . . '

"It's Sniffles' writing, damn him, even when he writes about me I sound like a test subject! I'm lucky he didn't write a experiment number instead of my actual name!" The bear huffed, standing up, he walked over to the window, opened it, and shredded the note into tiny pieces before letting them be blown away in the wind.

Turning, he saw the deer's downcast expression and his shoulders slumped before he apologized. "I'm sorry, Mime, I didn't mean to upset you, please keep writing, I'd really like to know more about you."

It was clear that he had been forgiven and Mime started writing once again.

 

Elsewhere, outside of Pop's house. . .

A figure watched in malicious glee as said male lay sleeping, taking a nap on the couch. The wails of his hungry son filled the air, but the dozing father was deaf to the kid's cries.

Eyes narrowed, he stood, deep in thought. I slit that feline's throat, but he revived, but surely I cut deeply enough, surely I killed him, how could he revive within minutes when it takes hours to revive? What gives?

His paws tightened on the wooden windowsill, making the wood creak and splinter in protest. Not only that, where the hell did that damn cat come from? And how did he beat me without being able to see me? Hell, how did he even hit me so accurately?

He shook his head, rage fogging his insane mind, he growled and then snickered softly. What does it matter? It was a fluke, he won't ever beat me again. I don't care if he keeps reviving, I'll just bash him into a pulpy mass and he won't recover near fast enough to stop me again.

Still Cub continued to cry, his little tummy empty and aching. I can remedy that. The stranger thought wickedly.

He knew that during the day there was a chance of being seen in the daytime, but he also knew the chance was so slim dirt couldn't even fit in it. Nobody usually visited Pop during the day, and the male's house s far away from the other tree friend's houses that it couldn't even be seen from their porches.

He was certain that he had a back up plan, always have a plan b. He raised his fist, punching and shattering the windowpane glass before reaching in and unfastening the lock, slipping inside and grinning wider than ever. Pop was still out like a stoned Disco Bear. The old coot is such a sound sleeper a box of TNT could go off beside him and he would not even twitch.

The male stepped past the sleeping bear, walking into the kitchen before opening the fridge. His acts were casual, as though he was a guest and not an intruder. He carelessly pulled out a few bowls of fruit, and turned, eying the blender on the counter, he plugged it in and scanned the buttons before finding the "puree" option. Leaving the fridge's door ajar and grabbing a hold of the fruit, he started contemplating the perfect mixture.

Pouring mangoes and pears into the blender he smirked and picked up a butcher knife, the male glanced at his reflection, running a paw over his ears as he admired his appearance. Cub's wails raised higher. "Hush little cub, don't you cry." He sing-songed softly.

He went into the living room and slit Pop's throat without hesitating, then, he carried the dead body into the kitchen and blended it up after cutting it into decently sized pieces.

A beautiful mixture, like blood and melted cheese, like a sunset at the end of a day of hunting, like the colour of the orange juice and blood that was served at breakfast during some cannibalistic feast.

The orangish red concoction was then poured into a bottle, and then another bottle was filled, until Pop's whole body was entirely blended up and the fruit was all gone. Too bad I couldn't fuck Flippy last night, but at least little Cubby will have a treat.

When he walked inside the baby's room, it went silent. The little bear tilted it's head in curiosity, it's little black pac-man eyes blank and clueless. He raised his paws up and leaned against the front side of his crib. "Hungray." He whined, at this point, Cub didn't care who fed him, as long as he was fed.

The male smiled and held up a bottle. "Oh yes, I made you some yummy juice." He handed it to the tyke who drank it up greedily.

Grinning, he ruffled the kits fur with his bloody paw. "I gotta go, be good, there's some more juice in bottles in the kitchen, okay?" He picked Cub up and sat him on the floor.

"Dabababa." Cub said and nodded his head. "Juics yumme." He cooed, drinking heartily from the bottle.

The male grinned and took his leave. Fucking things up has never been so fun. A chuckle escaped his maw. And I've still got more plans for Flippy, I'm sick of going to him, it is time I brought him to me, and no one, not even that damn cat will stop me! But first, I'll give him a week or two to regain false hope before I ravage him anew.

He set off, his paws twitching as he went, in her right paw he held the butcher knife, still bloody from killing Pop, and still sharp enough to split a hair.

 

After they had conversed back and forth for several hours, even managing to speak about the topic of his rape a bit better, Flippy felt like a huge blanket of despair had been lifted off of his shoulders. He thanked the deer, who hugged him and nodded.

"Please come back and see me again soon, you really cheered me up, Mime." Flippy told the silent male, watching as he left and trying to control the feeling of loneliness that rose in his chest now that Mime was gone.

Java walked inside, his cat eyes still a bit half-closed, he stretched, popping his spinal cord several times as he did so. "Not much of a talker, that one, but you seem a bit less tense, so he must have done a corker of a job, good on you."

"Where's Flaky?"

Java shrugged, "I think she said she was going to go home and eat dinner or lunch, or whatever meal is usually eaten around this time, she said she'll come back later though." He yawned, his teeth flashing in the light and Flippy suddenly twitched.

No, please, not another memory, not now, not while I'm feeling so much better! He mentally pleaded, but to no avail, the memory began to play out in his mind's eye like a horrible movie that could not be paused.

The figure loomed over him, forcing Flippy's body against the ground and roughly grabbing the flailing bear's wrists and forcing both of them above his head with a single paw. Flippy gasped. "Wh-who- wh-what are you doing, what do you want?"

There was no response, only the feeling of his attacker's body brushing against him, said attacker's free paw viciously assaulting the veteran's body.

Flippy felt something being forced inside of him, something that didn't belong, something that should NOT be inside of him! His eyes widened and he tried to free himself, but was too weak. Pain throbbed viciously as the intruding object moved inside of him, tearing him apart, hurting him, and defiling him in his most sacred of areas.

A cackle escaped his attacker's muzzle, one that was so cruel, so heartless, so insane that Flippy felt his blood freeze, he glanced over his shoulder, but the darkness shrouded the attacker, only a couple of pointy teeth reflecting the moonlight stood out. "Guess what, my pet, I'm going to fuck you all night long, over and over, and over . . ."

"Oi, mate, what's wrong?" Java called, shaking the green-furred male's shoulder roughly.

Flippy didn't reply as the memory in his head played over, mixing in with all the others. His eyes widened as he felt hysteria fill his chest and then he began to weep. "Damn him, damn him to hell, as long as he's alive, I'll never be free from this damned nightmare!"

The cream-coloured male groaned, his eyes wide with disbelief. He's up, then he's down, up, then down, up, then he's drowning in the river of suffering. The male sighed. "Look, don't worry, nothing will happen, everything will be fine, he won't get past me."

The bear's eyes softened and he punched the mattress before rolling over and crying as hard as he could. Java just watched placidly, what was he expected to do? He was piss-poor when it came to comforting someone.

He could only watch as the male soaked his pillow with grief-filled tears. He eyed his claws. You guys had better stay sharp, you'll be needed if that bastard shows up. This guy seems to strike every night, I'm appalled Flippy's friends haven't done more about this, but that's why I'm here. He thought to himself.

Flippy wailed and pounded his fists, "Damn, damn, damn, damn!"

"Oh, shit, damnit Flippy, you stop that right now!" Java screeched. "If you keep that up you'll just make yourself sick and ruin your mental health even more."

"What's the point? He's in my head, he's been inside of me, he's ruined me, look at me!" Flippy screamed, sitting up and throwing the soggy pillow at Java, smacking Java in the stomach, the bear gestured at the scar that was upon his chest. "Look at this, it's permanent, like Handy's stubs, this is a mark that reminds me of my pain, I'm broken on the inside and it is now visible on the outside, this mark will never leave!"

The cat bristled in annoyance, but he just shook his head. "I don't approve of meaningless fights." He whispered to himself, calming his sudden anger.

"Screw you!" Flippy screamed.

Java didn't even blink as he forced himself to maintain composure. "I don't do that sort of thing." His ears twitched and he groaned. No, no, I will not, ugh! Java groaned, why was his subconscious telling him to do this?

Java sat down beside the male. His face convulsed into several unwilling expressions, he held no disgust towards the bear, the fact he'd been raped didn't make him any less of a person. But Java did not hug, ever! His subconscious coaxed him, harder this time.

With a disgruntled sigh, he embraced the sobbing male, who stiffened in shock and then began weeping afresh.

Rubbing his paws across the male's back, Java tried his best to sooth the distraught green-furred male. Flippy bawled until his eyes were bone dry and puffy.

"There there, I'll tell you what, I'll train you to fight for yourself, you may be an ex-soldier, but you might have grown a bit rusty after all this time." Of all the times for that darn porcupine to be absent, she's supposed to be doing this. Ugh.

Sniffing, he looked at the male, a slight hint of hope in his eyes, "Really?"

"Ugh yes, now let go of me and act a bit happier, and get your green ass into gear so you can train tomorrow."

Chapter 10: Training

It was three days after Java had first offered to train Flippy and the two were outside training once again. Ever since that night, Flippy had decided to wear pants, he said as silly as it sounded, the material made him feel much more safe. Flaky had supported his choice and had quickly talked Giggles into helping her make a few pairs, using camouflage material that matched his jacket, they supplied him with five pairs and Flaky told him she'd happily make him more if he wanted her to. The bear had been delighted at just how well the pants suited him, both in how well they fit him, and in how they only added to his appearance.

The first day after his offer, Java had allowed Flippy the liberty to do whatever he chose, the nervous male hadn't done much, merely sat outside staring at the cloud-filled sky placidly, as if trying to ease the worries his mind held. After that he had slowly made bigger steps to being social, and had begun to improve.

0

"Look at him," Giggles grumbled as she sat inside of the hospital and watched the two through a window, "he's got Flippy rolling around in the dirt and jumping around like a damn flea."

"But Giggles, look at Flippy, he looks . . . happier." Flaky said.

Sniffles' nodded. "Indubitably, this is probably good exercise for Flippy, all those days cooped up inside of that room doing nothing have probably weakened him considerably."

Giggles grumbled in protest, but two against one never made for a fair argument. I still don't trust him, that feline lied once, and only once, and I could turn the others against him here and now, but Flippy would never believe it. Java would deny it vehemently too, but I know, he lied about not seeing Flippy's attacker, but why? She groaned and stepped away, she was going to make her head ache if she kept pondering it so much, she'd given herself a two-day migraine already, but that had been a few days ago.

"And over the past four days Flippy has gotten much better." Flaky added. But in her mind she hoped her friend would not notice the mark on his left leg that was hidden beneath his pants.

 

Flippy climbed up a tree and grinned, his eyes shining as he felt the thrill of the outdoors. He scurried from one branch to another wildly in excitement.

Crrrrrrrraaaaaaack!

He suddenly found himself reeling from the fall, he shook his head and looked up at Java. who sat on the edge of a thinner tree branch. "So what am I doing today? All you've done for the last three days is made me run around, jump over things, and stuff."

"You know I rarely fight unless it's to defend someone, but I will show you some tricks, things that although for the most part unique to my Felidae brethren, can be learned, through time." Java said, his tail quivering as he twitched his whiskers and meditated.

"I hope you mean I'll learn how to not get my ass kicked by a tree or raped by a shadow." Flippy grunted, rolling over and leaping to his feet.

Java eyed him, his tail flickered. "You only broke the branch because you pushed it to far, mate, I weigh almost the same as you, but I eased myself out here, if you apply your entire weight on it all at once, it can't adjust, you must ease your way upon it."

Flippy grumbled something akin to, "you sound just like a damn fortune cookie" and tried to ease his weight upon another branch, it creaked in protest and he hesitated, then continued a bit farther. "Wow, you were right." He muttered after he had reached the farther end of the branch.

"A feline can sit and watch its prey for hours without moving, we watch and wait, and then we kill and eat, we use so little energy this way. Other animals chase and lose their prey, we let our prey come to us. We are picky to the point we are viewed as snobs, but we know what we want and we are dead set to go after it."

"What can't you do?" He asked, hanging upside down and smirking. "Oh, I know, cats can't swim." He was about to burst into laughter when the branch began to make creaking sounds, scrabbling he righted himself and leapt to a bigger branch, sighing and relaxing.

"Actually we can swim rather well, but for the vainer felines, it's much harder to primp after getting soaked to the bone. We're also very observant." Java added.

"Swell," Flippy snapped.

The brown cat made his way down, and glanced up. "Okay, so are you coming down, or will I have to make you get down?"

"I thought cats always got stuck in trees?"

"You've been hanging around the chipmunk. . . " Java sighed, his ears pulling back in annoyance.

"No, I just. . . I don't know much about cats, or chipmunks either."

Java grinned as the bear climbed down. "What's to know about her kind, that bunny she hangs out probably knows the most common fact about chipmunks there is."

"What's that?"

"They like to gather nuts and store them in a safe place." There was a cheshire grin etched across his muzzle.

Flippy froze and seemed to take a few minutes to realize what he had actually meant. Then, his face was red as a tomato. "Java! That's horrible and very sick-minded!"

"Oh, you're real squishy, no wonder I've got to train you so hard." He said, his eyes narrowing in mirth.

"What's squishy?"

"It's means soft, tame, like a, ah, patsy." Java replied, his tail flicking Flippy's nose.

"I'm not soft, I'm just sensitive." Flippy snapped back in annoyance, grabbing the tail and jerking it, making a growl rise in his throat.

Every inch of fur bristled, sticking out and making the cream-furred male look twice as large as he actually was. "Let go of my tail!" He hissed, his claws shooting out as he spun around and bared his teeth.

Flippy recoiled, his eyes widening as he released his grip and fell backwards, flat on his ass. He stared up at the male and winced when Java glared at him, his light purple feline eyes filled with rage. "My tail is not to be touched, ever! Don't go near it, don't pull it, and don't touch it!"

"Java, I. . . I'm sorry, eesh, I didn't think you'd get so mad." Tears filled the male's eyes, what if Java hurt him out of anger?

The brown male blinked, he suddenly exhaled harshly. Fur settling down as he forced himself to recompose his ruffled self, his claws retracted last. He sighed. "Dammit, why must it always be the tail? Everyone knows you don't pull a cat's tail." He held out a paw, "Forget that outburst ever happened, okay, mate? I'm already trying to forget it myself."

"Is that one of the reasons I've always been told to tread lightly around a cat?" The bear asked, accepting the offered paw and picking his beret up.

"Yes, we really hate it when our tails are injured, we get spewin' and don't stop until somebody gets hurt. Reckon its good that I have self-control. I tell you what, let's start training right now." Java said, grinning. Then his eyes hardened. "Stand up straight!"

Flippy quickly did.

"On your toes, here's the first lesson, cats walk on their toes, because the pads of ones paws make all the noise that the toes do not, remember this, Flip, kitty toes."

Flippy nodded, struggling to maintain his balance. "Yes sir!"

"Now, since you've already gotten under my skin, let's spar."

Flippy nodded. "Now?"

The cat grinned, his eyes sparkling, he now felt eager to spar a bit. "Go ahead, let's see if you're any good. But keep your paws off of my tail."

Flippy frowned at the males words, Java wasn't acting quite so peaceful or kind, was he still angry? He didn't ponder it any more as he lunged at the male, knocking him over and straddling Java, pulling his fist back as he began to go into attack mode.

The brown male grinned as Flippy tried to punch him, only for the feline to catch the punch in his paw- although he had trouble restraining it, the bear was obviously stronger in hand to hand combat. Leveling his feet with Flippy's sides, he kicked, sending the male flying back and allowing Java to get back up. "Kitty toes, mate, they're faster and more agile."

Flippy growled and then stood on his toes again, then he ran forward and lashed out, kicking Java in the ribs and sending the feline rolling off to the side. "Oof, that was a bonzer kick, whoa, I think you might have bruised a rib or two there." The cat opened his eyes and grinned. "Seems you still pack quite a wallop, how about you try to restrain me now? Just try and catch me and hold me, I want to see if you can restrain your opponent, not just beat the shit out of them."

Flippy nodded. "You gong to run?"

"Run? No, I'll dodge."

Another nod as the green-furred male threw himself at Java, trying to grab his shoulders. Said cat ducked, rolled, and jumped out of the male's reach over and over. Flippy made sure to avoid grabbing the male's tail as he tried to catch him.

Suddenly he caught the male's left hind leg and tripped him, Java stumbled, tried to right himself, and was suddenly forced flat on his stomach when Flippy held him down, the male grinned, his eyes smug. the cat struggled vigorously, and then went limp.

Confusion filled Flippy's eyes. "Java?"

No response.

"Java!"

The male didn't move.

"Damnit, what the hell?" the bear groaned as he eased up on his hold. Suddenly the feline rolled over, grinned and kicked Flippy off of him.

"What the hell, you cheated!" He exclaimed, getting back up off the ground.

The feline grunted and stood up, his eyes twinkling. "Is a possum a cheater because he plays dead? I think not, I have learned over time that using small tricks is the key to winning. You should try it, nothing confuses your attacker so much as when you seem to have died."

"You pulled it off so well I thought you were actually dead."

He grinned, "I have many fighting tricks to share with you, just wait and see. Let's keep on training, alright?"

"Hell yeah, that was a good trick, I'll have to remember that." The male replied eagerly. 'Java may not be very strong, but he knows how to fight, although he's better at defensive moves than attacking ones.' Flippy thought to himself as he continued on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like Flippy's wearing pants now. ^.^


	6. The Wounded War Bear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And here is where it ends or "ends". Unless I get the motivation to work on this eight-year-old story again, here's where it ends writtewise at least. I know how it's supposed to play out, just lost motivation and interest in ever finishing it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, yes, I know, I kind of lied about Evil not being in this fanfic, but I. . . .I had already planned to have him in it. I didn't mean to lie, but I didn't want you to assume too much beforehand.

The male groaned, he slammed a fist against a wall. He shifted and rolled about, arching his spine in anger. "I hate him so much." He growled, then he rolled over and grunted, the shadow couldn't stop thinking of his pet.

He wanted the lesser male to suffer as bad as possible, yet the attacker refrained from actually killing Flippy. Why? Because as long as the male couldn't escape the pain quite so easily, he could apply more pressure. The chances that Flippy would crack if he was trapped in a vicious cycle was high enough to excite the male.

"It's been what, four days since he's suffered?" He asked himself, raising a paw and bringing it down upon a fly that had settled atop an upturned plate. He wiped the nasty mess off on the dirty carpet, then proceeded to wash his paws quickly. "I'm sick of waiting, but . . . " A suddenly dark cackle came from his maw as he started laughing. "I do hope my pet is healed up and ready to be torn apart again."

He stared at his reflection, baring his razor-sharp teeth in a wide smile and narrowing his eyes in anticipation.

 

Although it had begun with sparring and the teaching of tricks, Flippy's training had quickly became more strenuous, Java was making him stay on his toes, this night, the feline was making Flippy face his fear of the dark.

"I'm about set to flick the switch, ready man?"

Clutching the blankets and mattress, the bear shook his head furiously, his eyes staring at the door. If someone snuck inside with the lights out . . .

"Oh, dude, don't forget I'll be right here." Java said, he then gestured to the blankets that were strewn across the doorway where Java had chosen to sit and stand guard during the nigh, the male had already recharged himself earlier in the day, so he felt wide awake and ready to go. "If anything will get past me, it will be a spirit, no walker can slip past me without my ears hearing them."

"Okay, could you only turn it off for a minute at first so I can try to get used to it first?"

A nod, and blackness surrounded Flippy. The bear could have sworn his fur was sticking up in terror, he felt like a horse in a never-ending race, trying to reach he goal only for it to get even farther away. Like he was trapped in a hamster ball or on an endless journey, he breathed rapidly now, panic flooding his veins as he tried not to whine in terror. "Turn it on, now, please!" He cried tears filling his eyes.

The room became bathed in light, banishing the shadows and making the bear's heart rate ease a little bit. Java tried to reassure himself that this was for the best, he wanted Flippy to get over his fear of the dark, but this wasn't going well as it was. "Wan to try again? You were doing good there, almost lasted thirty seconds, mate."

Thirty seconds, that felt like an hour if not longer. He froze fearfully, fidgeting wildly, finally, as the last of his shock ebbed away, he nodded weakly, "Yes, once more, I want to try for at least two minutes, Java." He felt like he should've said no, should've backed out and refused, but he wanted to get stronger, he wanted to face his fears.

The feline flicked the switch and darkness enveloped him once more, terror returned to him, he felt the fear clutch his chest, make it hard to breath, he felt a mental breakdown approaching.

"Easy now soldier, deep breathes, shut your eyes and think of the accomplishments you've made. The war was worse than this little fear, remember? Now relax a bit, easy, don't worry, just relax. . . "

His eyes shut, he nodded wildly, so frightened he didn't even realize that the voice was in his own head, he just concentrated on what it was saying.

"That's it, think of all those difficult times, now why do you fear the darkness, tell me what can it do to you?"

Flippy mused the question, feeling more at ease now as he laid there, eyes shut, thinking. "If I allow it to, the darkness can consume me, and overpower my mind."

"Yes, but only 'if' you allow it."

"So I must control the darkness around me, and the darkness inside of me, or else it will control me."

"Right, ow just breathe a bit more calmly, relax, ease your tired mind."

Flippy nodded, his mind was already rid of its burdens and now, sleep overtook him.

Java's eyed Flippy carefully. "As long as the guy isn't loosing his marbles, he'll be fine, what he said sounded logical to me." He murmured, leaving the light still off and sitting down, his mind wide awake as he kept watch.

 

Flippy's sleep was free of nightmares for once. In fact, for a change he actually found himself in his dream, although the dream-scape he made was still cheery, he didn't want the unicorns or penguins to be around at the moment, so he dreamed they weren't there.

He sat down, gazing up at the pretty trees and smiling thinly. "Well, hopefully when this whole thing is over, I can rest at ease." He told himself.

Someone walked up to him, leaves crunching beneath the stranger's feet. A paw touched his shoulder lightly, making Flippy turn around in surprise. He was suddenly looking at someone who he thought he'd never see again.

"Hey there, soldier." Evil said, a small grin on his face.

"E-Evil?" He noted how the curt nod his doppelganger gave him was devoid of malice. "But you're not supposed to be around anymore, I thought . . . I thought I actually got rid of you for good." The comment was not one of anger, but one of joy, he had missed his other half's presence.

Even with a sense of joy filling his chest, Flippy still felt wary, he suddenly lifted his paw, preparing to block any blows that Evil would try to hit him with. Evil shook his head and caught Flippy's paw holding it lightly and making the good bear feel foolish.

"As if Lumpy, or anyone else could really get rid of me, ha! No, I was staying low for awhile." There was a weariness in the male's voice that made Flippy pause, he looked closer at his dark side, noticing a slight change in him.

"You look so different, why are you so tired?"

The dark bear released his hold on Flippy's paw and turned away, leaning on the tree trunk. "I'm still weary from battle, that night sapped me of all my strength, and I-we still lost."

Suddenly Flippy tried to contemplate Evil's words, what was his opposite talking about? Surely he couldn't mean. . . "You were there, that night? When it first happened?"

Evil glanced at him, not replying, but his paws went to his jacket, unlike Flippy, Evil still had his jacket buttoned shut. He undid the buttons and took the jacket off, still with his right side out of sight he nodded, then he turned.

Flippy's eyes widened. Although Evil had no scar upon his chest where Flippy did, he had one somewhere else instead. A long scar ran from his armpit down to his hip. Flippy stared in shock at the severity of the scar, it looked unhealed, as though it was still trying to repair itself as best as it could. As it was, the scar was so blatant there was no denying it had to have hurt like hell.

"Don't touch it!" Evil snarled, causing Flippy to jerk his paw back in surprise. Locking eyes with his better half, Evil snarled, "This wound doesn't mean shit to me, I'd have taken every blow, every hit and every ounce of pain you felt that night if I could have, but that bastard . . . " He trailed off, his yellow-green eyes filled with immense rage.

"Why does it look so unhealed?" The good bear asked, concerned.

"This wound is taking longer to heal partly because of how severe it was, but also because your mind is damaged, the mental pain you feel and the fact that you're still reeling from the attacks makes it harder to heal. I live in your mind, so how healthy your mind is relevant to how quickly I heal." Evil grabbed his jacket, slipping it back on, but not buttoning it up.

Is he angry because he's worried about me or because he lost a fight? Flippy wondered to himself as he watched Evil's eyes narrow while said bear was staring blankly ahead, thinking.

"All I've ever known is the rules of war," Evil muttered suddenly. eying his own paws as he spoke to himself. "A defeated soldier is to be slain on the spot, prisoners are only taken if they are beneficial. Yet he didn't kill us. . . . he knocked you unconscious and drug us outside of the town, and had he wanted to, he could have killed us permanently." He growled, turning and glancing at Flippy, "Why didn't he kill us?"

"I don't know, I really don't know why he's doing all this to us!" Flippy exclaimed, tears filling his eyes as he tried to ignore the possible reasons that came to mind, none of them made sense to him.

Evil racked his brain, walking back and forth, as he shook his head. "Because," he said, a look of understanding crossing his face, "he's not done playing with his toy, his 'pet' still needs to be trained."

"What?"

"Shit, then this is far from over." Evil continued, suddenly giving Flippy an apologetic look.

"What, how can you be so sure he's not done, what do you mean,what the hell ARE you talking about?"

Evil grabbed Flippy by the shoulders, snapping the bear out of his confusion. "He calls you his pet, that's what he always refers to you by anyway. So, considering pets usually have owners he'll more than likely seek to own you."

What? That's mad! Own me literally, like property . . . Flippy shook his head wildly in denial, the concept was insane, it was sick! "H-he can't do that to me, I am not a toy or a pet, I am not his to have!"

Evil loosened his grip on the male's shoulders, his eyes concerned and angry. "I agree. If I were stronger and not so weak still, I'd help you more, but as is, you are much better off fighting him on your own anyway."

"But Evil, you've always been stronger than me."

Laughing the male turned away and threw his paws up before laughing softly. "You mistake my cruelty for strength, Flippy. Anger isn't the same as power, I'm strong, but I let my anger make me more blind to things. And that cat . . . he's been quite the odd source of help, lately, right? He's taught you more tricks than you can count, so many tricks are at your arsenal that you are the bane of any soldier, even I would lose against such tactics, I'm not as quick-witted as you.

"And for some odd reason, my attacks were easy for that bastard to dodge, he dodged them all and beat and bruised me, the best I could do to him was to tear pawfuls of his fur out and to cut him a few times, and when he gave me this horrible wound, I couldn't stay conscious, so you were exposed to the worst part of it all."

Flippy nodded. "I see, then I'll train more, if he knows your moves, than I'll just have to mix up my tactics." Flippy suddenly yawned.

Evil smirked and patted him on the shoulder, "Go on, soldier, get some more rest, we'll talk again later on. Besides, Java's got more training in store for you and you've got some major ass to kick in the future."

Flippy nodded, leaving the dream state and slipping deeper into his sleep.

Chapter 12: Approaching Darkness

Flippy awoke the next morning, his head clear of upsetting thoughts for a change. He shook the sleep from his mind, and suddenly remembered talking to Evil last night and a small smile graced his face. Evil. . . . yeah, that's right. Evil's back!

"Heh, I told you already, I was never really gone for good. After all that pathetic psychoanalysis Lumpy did to you to try and get rid of me I just chose to stay low for awhile. I never expected that night to happen, nor did I think I'd get my ass kicked so hard. I'm lucky to be able to talk to you now, I thought I might be too weak to even do that for a week longer, but that cat's been helping us out a lot more than we realize. So get up and how about we keep my existence a secret, I doubt it would bode well with your friends anyway." Evil said.

With a nod, Flippy got up. He went through the normal steps: Put his beret on, straighten up the bed, neaten his pants and jacket so the wrinkles from sleeping in them were smoothed out. He looked around, saw Java was watching him with a placid expression, and then he nodded to the cat.

"I'm ready for today's training, buddy." Flippy said, smiling.

The cat grinned and waved Flippy off. "Don't worry about anything, mate, you get today off."

The male gazed at him blankly, eying Java curiously. "What do you mean I've got today off? I want to train more!"

Chuckling lightly, Java shook his head. "Oh, you will be back with your nose against the grindstone tomorrow, but the thing you have to do today is spend the day out with Flaky and . . . uh, dammit. . . I forgot the lad's name, he's a yellow rabbit, but I really can't recall the bloke's name. . . "

"Cuddles." Flippy said.

"Yep, that's the guy's name!" The brown feline exclaimed snapping his fingers.

Flippy fidgeted nervously, his eyes holding a hint of sadness. "Java, I. . . I don't think I'm ready to be seen like this."

"Like what? Like a soldier who's climbing his way back to the top after taking a physical and mental blow that would leave others wounded and catatonic? Sure you can, everyone who has seen you has felt bad for you and been amazed at your recovery so far."

Flippy stared at him, his eyes wide. "He's right, others would never get so close to recovery as you have, how many wounded soldier's have wanted to die after being shot in their arm or leg? Hell, how many have died because of it? Yet you still pressed on when you were wounded all those times."

"Okay, I guess I'll go then." Flippy agreed.

"Right on, mate, I reckon they'll get here soon, this fresh air will do you wonders really."

"Are we interrupting anything?" Flaky asked as her and Cuddles walked inside.

The rabbit smiled warmly at Flippy. "Hey, Flip, uh, I heard about what happened, I'm sorry to hear about all the pain you endured. C-can I give you a hug, or would it make you feel too uncomfortable?"

Flippy smiled. "No, you didn't interrupt us at all, we were just finishing our conversation really. Thanks Cuddles, sure, I don't see why you can't hug me, just not too tight, okay?"

The rabbit nodded and tightly embraced the bear before letting go and nodding his head. "Let's go, we're taking you out to have some fun and relax, alright?"

Flippy glanced back at Java, said cat just ushered him out. Flaky turned to Java and smiled. "Thanks for being so nice to him."

"No problem, Flaky, I think this will be good for him, just watch over him carefully, and don't overwhelm him too much, he's been cooped up in here long enough to go half crazy, too much stimulation might overload his mind."

The hedgehog nodded and left, making the male sigh and lean back. "Well, since he's got the day off, that must mean I do too."

The male stretched his tired muscles and laid down, "I do love a good catnap, and there is no one to disrupt me now that they're out having fun." He laid down and dozed for awhile.

It was almost an hour later when he stirred and stretched, about to roll over and doze off once more, he inhaled and froze in mild surprise, damn bastard. . . rolling over he locked eyes with the male who was standing beside him, Java rose slowly, his hackles already raising a bit as he met eyes with the bastard who had raped Flippy so many times.

Java's light purple eyes scanned the room, suddenly pausing on the open window, despite being up a floor from the ground, the feline knew getting in through the window could've been easy enough to do what with the large tree not far from it.

The attacker glared at him and glanced around curiously. "Ah, so my pet isn't here right now, good, I wanted to ask you a question of morbid curiosity anyway. I can take care of him later."

Java stared impassively at the male, not intimidated by the knife clutched in his hands at all. "Well, first off, he's not your pet, but if you really have a question to ask me, then go on, you bastard. But be quick and just spit it out for land sake!"

"Who the fuck are you?" The question was blunt and almost humorous to Java, he smiled a smidge as he stared back.

"My mother named me Java, she hoped I'd grow up to be a priest or some cat that loved coffee, such shit, but instead I do my own thing, loving beings like Bastet."

The knife glinted as the male moved his hand cautiously while he walked, he was circling around the feline and eying him like he was some lab experiment. "Bastet? Who the hell is that?"

Java's eyes never wavered as he replied. "She's my goddess, the feline queen who blessed all her feline children with nine lives. She is a guardian of all cats. I worship her, although," Java smiled, making the male snarl angrily, "I didn't choose her, she chose me." Java lashed out as an opportunity revealed itself, his claws tore bleeding gouges in the males left cheek, quickly he dodged the jab of the knife and rolled to safety.

He was rising to his feet to attack again when an ear-splitting whistle made him drop to his knees and clutch his yellowed ears in pain.

"Heh, like that? It's like a dog whistle, only for cats, I thought of you when I saw it not too long ago."

Java growled, rubbing a his throbbing ears. "Bastard, that's a low trick, pathetic even. What are you planning to do next?" He spat, hackles raised and claws unsheathed as he fought to restrain the immense headache he now felt.

"I plan on figuring out how you pulled that little trick that night. You know, reviving yourself after your throat was slit."

"Nine lives." A one word reply, that was the only response Java gave.

"Oh, so there's some made up feline immortality going around now?"

"No," Java sneered, returning the insult with one of his own, "you wouldn't understand it all, its much too complicated for your stupid mind."

"Wanna bet? I can figure this out the hard way then." He blew the whistle, making Java double over, when the sound ceased the male had his paw against the male cat's throat. "Do tell, can you regenerate limbs, or must you die completely to do that?"

"Its not like that, wounds just re-heal quickly, I can still die otherwise."

"That sounds, doable, I wanna see that first hand." The attacker replied, his sharp teeth bared.

". . . " The feline eyed him coldly, unwilling to let the bastard feel victorious in earning a response.

Java blinked and in that split second the The male's tail was jerked, making his eyes widen. My tail! He felt rage fill his veins, but suddenly pain lanced through the anger, the knife had cut his tail off at the base, Java fought back a wail of agony, his resolve to not cry out in pain was already wavering. He bit down on his lip and pressed his claws hard into the flesh of his palm, rivets of blood running down the length of his arms.

The stranger watched, mildly fascinated as the bleeding slowed and then a scab formed on the stub, but there was no regenerating.

"Well, that answers that question." He said, suddenly keen.

"You going to do anything else? What else have you got? There's nothing you can do to me that I haven't already experienced." Java snapped, making the male let out a delighted laugh.

"Oh, trust me, I know something that you've never experienced, and even if you have, it wasn't this bad." Fury filled the males veins.

He raised the knife, slicing along the sides of Java's legs before pushing them apart and poising the knife right below the feline's balls.

The male's lavender eyes filled with sudden terror, his resolve broken, he knew he'd scream after the next move. He shut his eyes and called out to Bastet.

"Heh you've been fucking with the wrong male. . . " The attacker sliced upward, cutting off the cat's testicles and then slicing upward again to cut off the most tender part of Java's entire anatomy as well, needless to say having his penis cut off along with his balls hurt like hell.

This time a loud yowl rang out, the pained scream carried for miles and miles.

Laughing wildly, the male took his hand away from Java's throat, the cat slumped, his paws blood red from where he'd dug his claws in so deep, his cut off tail lay to the right and the most sacred of his body parts lay there, in a bloody puddle between his legs. Java sobbed and convulsed in severe pain, eventually the male stilled, having slipped into what appeared to be a coma.

"Tch, what a pussy." The attacker spat, striking out one last time, swinging with such force it decapitated the unconscious feline, with a grin, he watched the cream-furred head roll off to the side.

Wiping the blood off his knife he grinned at Java's headless corpse and laughed. "Now to wait for my pet to return, I do hope he's ready to go home with me and spend his life in blissful agony!"


End file.
